2009 Season in Review
I would like to thank my wife Cindy for all of her support this year, she is the drive gear on our race team and we could not do what we do without her. I would also like to thank my son Mark. He has been there at most of the races this year supporting the effort as well.

We would not be able to have done what we have done without great companies supporting our program. They support us with the best products and support we could ask for.
First and foremost, thank you to CB Performance, Rick, Pat, Kevin, Anthony and Marie Anne. Thanks for all that you do to keep us out on the track.

Rancho Performance Transaxles, Sam and Mike, with your bulletproof transmission we are able to race with extreme confidence and no worries. If it weren’t for you guys, we’d have been out of VW racing long ago. Thank you. Your support means more than you know.
We also appreciate the help and support of John and Michael at M&H tires, Rick Sadler and Dominick Luppino of Bugpack. Thanks for your help along the way.

For the White Knuckle Ride racing team, it’s been a very good year. We started out with a big win at what we consider the most prestigious event in the west, the historic Bakersfled March Meet. No matter what happened after that, even if we didn't win another round of racing, we are still the Bakersfield March Meet Hot Rod Champions. It just doesn't get any better than that! For us it is the Holy Grail of racing accomplishments.

But we did win more rounds! At Dragfest in early May, we were winners again. We had runner-up finishes in both ANRA and in WCHRA events.

Our year in PRA competition has been largely "forgettable." Our cutback on PRA events for 2009 unfortunately pretty much took us out of title contention. We missed the opener at Phoenix even though we showed up to race. A personal meltdown caused me to abandon. The following PRA race at the May Bugorama found us in the middle of a protest over PRA actions (or inactions) and that race was pretty much squandered away for nothing. In the future, we'll be staying out of the "Politics of Racing" and putting our efforts into the act of racing itself.

In West Coast Hot Rod competition we had a couple runner up finishes which helped us get to the #2 position for the year. Not bad, but we can do better. We gotta figure out a way to beat Dustin Lee! That guy is tough.

In the American Nostalgia Racing Association series, we had fairly good results and we were in position to vie for the championship at the season final. Our unfortunate exit in round one stopped us in that endeavor. We've been on both ends of a lot of "squeekers" in this series, and it looks like we'll have to step up our game and tighten our overall "package" to come out on the winning side more often on those tight races. We definitely be working on that part of the equation next year.

I think our overall combination is very good right now and reliability has been very good as well. We only had one issue this year that impacted us severely. A bad ignition coil at the PRA opener in Phoenix. To tow all that distance, over 600 miles each way and have a coil fail is bad enough. To have a complete personal meltdown because of that, which was compounded by some work related stress at that time of year was even worse. At that particular time, I had a really short fuse, and the car not firing up lit it right off. My hope is that kind of stuff will be avoided this coming year. I can't always control what happens at my daytime job, but I should be able to cut it loose when I'm not at work.

Results come directly from the effort put in as well as quality components. No rounds are won when we’re sitting on the sidelines with broken stuff. Nothing good is accomplished when one sits idly and complains.

Facta non verba!

Our CB CNC Competition Eliminator heads have been going strong for many seasons and now have close to 600 runs on ‘em. Still going strong! Our CB aluminum case provides a strong foundation that is rock solid reliable. CB cams and lifters are the best there is and we can rely on them to deliver the power.

Our Rancho built Bus transaxle now has well close 500 runs on it with only two ring and pinion changes in between. I know I can apply all the power I can muster and I can do it time after time with no worries.

Our M&H tires provide the “hook” that I can depend on for hard consistent launches.

Bugpack has come through for us on many occasions. The quality of their parts and their customer service is among the best there is.

Thanks again to those that have helped us and supported us this season, and all the encouragement and kind words along the way. Our extended family, the Wiess', Jevecs, Palmers, Scheurgers and Bergs have been there for us and us for them whenever needed.